what is a narrative

A narrative is a storytelling technique wherein characters describe the events of a story, experience, or details from their point of view. It can be presented through a sequence of written or spoken words, through still or moving images, or through any other medium. Narratives can be either fictitious or non-fictitious and include vivid descriptions of the conflict. A personal narrative is a prose narrative relating personal experience. Narratives are to be distinguished from descriptions of qualities, states, or situations, and also from dramatic enactments of events. A narrative can take the form of an essay, a biography, or a novel, and it strings together the events through a concept, idea, or plot. Generally, narratives are constructed using a three-act structure – beginning, middle, and end. Narratives are most commonly written in the first-person point of view.